Fall River school board votes to move Resiliency Prep program to Rock Street building

With the start of school just two weeks away, the School Committee voted unanimously Monday night to relocate the Resiliency Preparatory School program to the former James M. Morton Middle School building, at 290 Rock St.

The committee’s vote came more than a month after a previous School Committee vote in July to table the matter.

With the start of school just two weeks away, the School Committee voted unanimously Monday night to relocate the Resiliency Preparatory School program to the former James M. Morton Middle School building, at 290 Rock St.

The committee’s vote came more than a month after a previous School Committee vote in July to table the matter.

The Resiliency Preparatory School and its 200 students were temporarily housed in the former Cherry & Webb building on South Main Street from February though June after high winds in a January storm damaged the roof of its previous building, the former Westall School on Maple Street.

Prior to the committee’s vote Monday, Resiliency Preparatory School Principal Jessica Vinacco recommended to the school be relocated to the old Morton site, because it is more centrally located within the city than the Henry Lord building, which the committee was also considering.

“I see a rushed and risky proposal,” said Vinacco of the possible move to Henry Lord. “The move would require us to go quickly and suddenly, which would then strip us of our safe and intimate environment.

“Therefore, what we stand to gain in a facility at Henry Lord, we would lose the setting that defines the success of our program. It would also require many of our students to take two buses to get to school. And I just can’t see putting another obstacle in front of our attendance rate,” Vinacco said.

School Committee members had previously discussed the possibility of expanding RPS to middle school grades. Vinacco said such a move could make the building “unfit for learning.”

The program had middle school students in the same building as high school students before, Vinacco explained.

“We noticed that our middle school students looked like potential gang recruits to our older students,” she said, adding that many of the younger students were also subject to bullying and intimidation.

Vinacco said the move allows RPS to expand its current offerings to its students, including technology, a gymnasium, auditorium and a full kitchen.

School Committee Vice Chairman Mark Costa said the district “needs to look at how we service middle school students in a middle school environment.”

“I hear your concerns,” he told Vinacco, of having high school and middle school students in the same building.

He explained the delay in reaching a decision on RPS, because “there were other options on the table. Please don’t take the delay as meaning we don’t know the importance of you being able to provide an education.

“We need to start recognizing RPS for the good it does for students,” Costa said. “We need to talk about the impact staff and you as leader made on their lives.”

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Mayor Will Flanagan also praised the RPS program. He told Vinacco, “I view your school more than a (grade) nine through 12 school. If it wasn’t for teachers and classrooms, where would those students be?

“Every time I walk away from the school, I leave with a more positive feeling than when I entered,” Flanagan said.

While other committee members praised the RPS program, Martins said it could do more. He would like to see more job training and college preparation done at the school, citing one-year follow-up studies that he said are not “what we would like it to be.”

“Those students deserve to have the opportunity to go onto post-secondary,” Martins said. “Or be trained, at to least have some basic skills, to get a job in today’s economy.

Teachers spoken to after the vote was taken said they are glad the school has a building now.

“I think we’re just relieved,” said Jillian Traban, who along with colleague Christine Correia explained that in addition to the normal pre-school year preparation, teachers, still need unpack and move into their new rooms.

Now they must time to cram a move and other preparations into a two-week time span.

“It is going to be more work,” Traban said.

During the RPS discussion, school officials said the cost of utilizing the Cherry & Webb building for the Resiliency program was funds with insurance funds, but that was only paid up to July.

Options on Henry Lord Use still on the table

While relocating the Resiliency Preparatory School to the former Henry Lord Middle School building at 151 Amity St. is no longer on the table, there are still other options for the building’s use.

The committee heard one of them from John Doran Elementary School Principal Maria Pontes, who said relocating Doran from Fountain Street to the Henry Lord building may allow the pre-kindergarten-to-eighth-grade school to expand.

“I would like to explore the possibility,” Pontes said. “We’ve re-cultured our school. I think the structural piece, those are easy fixes.”

Pontes said before such a move would be undertaken, she would like to gather feedback from other stakeholders — parents and faculty. She said she was concerned of the negative impact a move could have on the positive momentum the school is experiencing.

“Building on what we started, that’s the biggest concern,” Pontes said.

After discussion, the committee voted on a motion to study the feasibility of the move. The motion instructed Pontes to gather feedback from Doran parents and teachers, and schools Chief Operating Officer Tom Coogan to compile data on the possible transportation costs increases that would be associated with the move.

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The committee also approved a motion introduced by Martins, to explore the feasibility of Henry Lord becoming a middle school once again, albeit, run by a private educational management firm.

Martins said he would like to see Henry Lord “retained as a middle school.”